Actually, in the new Firestorm issue, Darkseid appeared, but he far from caught a beating.
I wrote about it in a spoiler tag in the Countdown thread if you're interested in reading what happened.
__________________
I am God's mighty fist. I am God's strength made manifest.
Sig by: Skeets, S.S, thesilverspider, Sir SKEETS Alot
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: Anyways, Firestorm takes down the powered up Kalibak, and the hordes of parademons depicted on the cover...Darkseid shows up, takes down Firestorm, Mister Miracle, and Orion effortlessly with one hand by some waves of energy. He looks at Firestorm, "You are the champion of the red? Your power is considerable." Firestorm says "I'm not just going to stand here and --" Darkseid cuts him off, "Yes, that is precisely what you will do." And he reached into the Firestorm Matrix and physically ripped Jason and Prof. Stien apart. Then took the Professor and left. Apperently as discussed in the past few issues, Darkseid does not have the Anti-Life yet -- as Motherbox told us -- but that Professor Stien has all but solved the equation... and now Darkseid has him.
__________________
I am God's mighty fist. I am God's strength made manifest.
Sig by: Skeets, S.S, thesilverspider, Sir SKEETS Alot
That scan is kind of misleading. If you read the actual story, it was obvious that Firestorm got a lucky shot and that Darkseid was more powerful.
1. In the story it comes from, Firestorm gets punked by Orion
2. In this same story, Firestorm, Orion, and Powergirl lose to a team of villains that Darkseid owned TWICE.
3. Darkseid was actually beaten by Metron. He was still standing and fighting Orion, Firestorm, and Powergirl when Metron killed him by redirecting the cannon.
Anyone who thinks Firestorm was presented as more powerful in THAT story is misrepresenting it. He was crafty and got off a good shot but it was clear that DS was more powerful than any of the heroes. Besides, that story was de facto retconned out of NG continuity when Kirby did Hunger Dogs. The changes made (for instance Darkseid dying on the next page) were ignored.
Firestorm has lost to beings Darkseid created like Brimstone and Parasite.